


Switched

by bestmelle



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas, Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-23 13:51:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9660098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bestmelle/pseuds/bestmelle
Summary: An ACOTAR/TOG Crossover in which Aelin and Feyre suddenly find themselves in the other’s court.





	1. Prologue

It was close to midnight but Amren couldn’t sleep. She was so close. By now she had almost decoded the whole Book of Breathings and just last week she had finally found the spell that should be able to open a portal and allow her to go home. Finally.  
She hated goodbyes and knew that everyone would be sad and cry and she didn’t know if she would be able to deal with that. So she had decided to leave secretly in the night, without telling anyone.

Of course she had made sure to say goodbye to everyone before, they just hadn't known it would be for good. Last night they’d had a family dinner, and Amren was sad to think she would never again have one of those. Because all of them really were her family.  
But she had a second family, one that she had not seen for over ten-thousand years, and that she wanted to return to. Because they were like her. They understood her. Here everyone accepted her the way she was, but nobody really understood.

That would be different there. Home. She wondered what had happened to that place since she had last seen it. Wondered if the others had made it back or were stuck the way she was. In a different world. So different from their own, but in some ways also so similar.  
She knew twelve of her brothers and sisters had gone to a place called Erilea, to shape and form life there, the way they had done it here, in Prythian, before. Had they left that realm? Had they gone on to another one? Or had they returned home? Well soon she would know. 

Amren smiled at the thought. She hoped one of her people would know how to shred her prison of flesh and bone, to truely free her. But she would worry about that later. 

She looked around her apartment by the river again, one last time, making sure she put the letters, that she had written for everyone, somewhere they would be found and then silently said goodbye. Maybe it was a cowardly move to leave like this… leave like this forever, but she wasn’t sure if she could do it if she had to face them. 

So she took the piece of enchanted chalk and started writing the spell with it. She drew a circle in the Leshon Hakodesh on the ground.  
If she had done everything correctly a portal should open in the middle of it, through which she would be able to go home. 

When she was done sketching she took a step back, waiting. At first nothing happened, but then the symbols began to glow. They glowed in a green light, that was so bright Amren had to look away. The light grew brighter and brighter and Amren stepped forward, expecting to see a portal opening. But there was nothing.

Suddenly the glow flared and then it stopped. Just stopped. When her eyes had readjusted to the sudden dark the symbols were gone. 

“NO!”

It hadn’t worked. Why hadn’t it worked? She had done everything correctly. Why, why, why?

She screamed her rage and frustration and despair at the sky. 

She was stuck here. This had been her last hope. Now she would never leave, never go home again. Never see her brothers and sisters again. Never know what had happened to them. Never know what they had experienced and done over the last ten millenia, when she had been stuck here. Never. Never. Never.

And then, for the first time in millenia, Amren cried.


	2. Chapter 1

Aelin Ashryver Galathinus had a very strange dream. She was dreaming of Wyrdmarks being drawn in a circle, of a flaring bright green light and then the feeling to fall, fall, fall…

She woke up with a start. Her breathing was ragged and her heart was beating too fast. Just after a few moments she realized that she wasn’t falling, that she was in bed. With Rowan. Safe.

Relieved she sighed and nestled close to him again. He tightened his arms around her and kissed her neck.

But something was _off._  The smell… it wasn’t Rowan’s pine and snow scent that hit her nose when she inhaled. It smelled like the sea and... citrus.

And then he mumbled, “Shhh... everything is alright. You’re safe, it was just another dream. I’m here.” The voice. It wasn’t Rowan’s voice.

Aelin opened her eyes to find something dark very close to her face. She flinched back and almost knocked the back of her head against his forehead.

_What on earth?_

She extended a hand and felt… something smooth and membranous against her fingers.

Rowan twiched beside her and grumbled something she couldn’t quite discern. She turned her head towards him… and swore very colorfully.

It wasn’t Rowan beside her. It was a - she had to admit - beautiful Fae male with black hair.

At her curse he grumbled again. This time she understood the words. “Feyre”, a sigh, "it’s the middle of the night.“ He cracked an eye open - so dark blue it was almost violet - and looked at her. For a moment nothing, then he shot upright.

At the same time she scrambled away from him. They started at each other in shock and horror.

Aelin recovered first and said into the dark, “Haha, very funny Rowan. You can come out now. You must think you’re incredibly funny.” Then she looked at the male in front of her. He looked like no one she’d ever seen, but she had a guess… “You were always a good actress, Lys. You can shift back now that you’ve had your fun.” She quirked an eyebrow. “But I have to admit your taste is pretty good. And to make wings… nice.” A smirk.

The male stared at her dumbfoundedly. “What”, he finally managed to croak out, “are you talking about?”

Aelin’s amusement in the whole situation grew by the second. “Oh come on Lys, don’t act like that. I know -” She was interrupted as the wings suddenly vanished into shadows. That was weird… Lys always glowed when she shifted, she didn’t just vanish something into smoak and shadow.

The male glared at her. “What are you doing in my bed?”, he snarled.

The snarling didn’t bother her much, she was used to every single male in her court constantly doing so, but…

“In your bed?”, she inquired. Looking around the room she saw, that this indeed was not _her_ room, and therefore also not _her_ bed.

This was starting to really be strange, it didn’t feel like a joke anymore. She could feel her fire starting to roil in her veins, wanting to get out, wanting to protect her. She took a steadying breath.

“Where am I? And who are you?”, she asked as calmly as she could.

His eyebrows shot up. “You just happen to appear in my bed and don’t know who I am or where you are?”, he drawled, “And I’m supposed to believe that? Come on, tell me. Who put you up to this? I don’t think Feyre would… but Nesta or Cassian? What did they offer you for this?”

None of that made any sense at all.

But at the same time her brain was piecing things together more and more. This man obviously had no idea who she was, or he wouldn’t say that. He thought this was a prank, just the way she had a few moments ago… It didn’t make any sense at all. She _hated_ not understanding things.

So she scowled at him and snapped, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

She had to buy some time to think, to make sense of all of this.

_How had she gotten into his bed?_

She could feel her heartbeat fasten, but she willed the panic down. Just to have something to do with her hands, she pulled her hair back and the male in front of her stiffened. “You’re human”, he whispered, unbelieving.

 _Right._ After the meeting that evening, over some stupid trade agreement with Fenharrow, she hadn’t bothered to shift back into her Fae form before tumbling into bed. She had been so tired. Being queen was more exhausting than she would have ever imagined.

But everyone, litterally everyone, _in like all of Erilea_ knew about her second form. This was getting stranger by the second. Something here was really, _really_ wrong. She felt her fear rising up again and as if in answer, so did her magic.

She felt her hands burst into fire. The Fae male’s gaze shot to the flames and his eyes widened. For just a second he seemed stunned, but then Aelin _felt_ , more than saw, darkness coming off of him. She had seen something similar only on one other person. _Maeve_.

Without thinking she threw up a shield of flames. It had held away _her_ darkness, it had protected her from _her_ …

And the same way the darkness had been blocked by her fire then, she was protected from it now.

But this magic felt somehow…. different. Strange and somehow  _otherworldly._ Not like the Valg. Not evil. Just _different._

A new wave of magic hit her shield and flung her off the bed that she was still crouching on. She hit the wall with a crack that echoed in her skull. Lights were dancing in front of her eyes, but she did not lower the wall of flame, that was protecting her. Even as the darkness struck at her again. And again. And again.

Aelin managed to get to her feet and hissed at the pain in her left leg, with which she had hit the wall.

She would not be ended like that. Not by darkness, not when it was so similar to Maeve's. She had beaten it before. And she would do so again.

So before the next wave of darkness could attack, she flung her fire out. She didn’t care that the bed was incinerated and there nothing but ashes left of it within a few seconds. She didn’t care that the curtains caught on fire. The fire was hers to command, it wouldn’t hurt her. And that bit she had just flung out. It was nothing. The well inside her was endless - and it was full.

The male looked utterly shocked, when he himself was flung against the wall on the other side of the room.

Aelin stalked towards him. “No one, really no one has _ever_ survived against my magic. So if I were you, I’d be _very_ careful with my next move.”, she hissed.

There was a knock on the door then. Aelin just ignored it and continued staring at the male in front of her. He was leaning against the wall and stared at her with such a shocked expression, she almost had the urge to laugh.

Another male voice came from the other side of the door, somewhat muffled through the wood. “Really guys, I hate to interrupt you two in whatever fun you’re having, but it’s the middle of the fucking night. Some people here are trying to sleep. I know you like to try out new things, but… please keep it down.”

The steps started retreating, and Aelin huffed at the implication.

“Cassian, get your ass in here. Right. now.”

The shout startled her and she quickly retreated two steps, when the male pushed off the wall and came closer. They were staring at each other.

The door opened hesitantly and the voice said, “Really Rhys, I don’t think this is appro- ”, he cut himself off as he beheld the scene.

Aelin and the male - Rhys apparently - standing a few feet apart and still glaring at each other. Night leaking off of him and a wall of flame encircling her. The bed in ashes and the curtains still burning.

His jaw dropped open. “What in Cauldon’s name happened here? And where’s Feyre?”

Rhys looked at him. “I thought she was with you or Nesta or Elain. Is she not downstairs?” Cassian shook his head.

Rhys was trying to stay calm, but Aelin could see the worry in his eyes.

He turned back to her. “Where is she? What did you do with her?”, he snarled. The dark power started leaking off of him in greater waves.

Aelin tried to ignore it and stay calm. “I didn’t do anything with anyone. _Who_ is Feyre even?”

“His mate”, the newly arrived Cassian answered quietly. Aelin looked at him more closely. He was handsome, beautiful even, with black hair and hazel eyes, that flickered in the light of the curtains still on fire. And he had wings. Great, dark, batlike wings. She frowned at his appearance, but put back the question what the rutting hell he was. That wasn’t important right now.

“You’re mate is missing?”, she quietly asked.

“It would seem so. Since I woke up next to you, instead of her. However that happened.”

That was something she would really like to know herself.

Cassian drawled, “Would someone please explain what’s going on here?”

“I’d really like that too, actually.”, Aelin retorted, “How about we start with where we are and who you two are?”

The two males stared at her. “You don’t know where you are?”, Rhys asked hesitantly.

“Well I know that I went to sleep in the palace in Orynth, but this is obviously not it, so yeah, I’d like to know where the rutting hell I am.”

“Where’s Orynth?”, Rhys started, but Cassian interrupted him with a pointed cough.

“How about”, he grumbled, “both of you put some clothes on and then we’ll talk?”

Aelin looked down on herself. She was wearing one of her _very_ short nightgowns and didn’t really see any problem with that, but Rhys across from her was completely naked. Not that she really minded looking at his body, but she supposed it _was_ somewhat inappropriate.

Rhys seemed to think the same thing, and quickly went to one of the two armoires. They were only slightly singed. He pulled out a shirt and pants, which he quickly put on.

Aelin didn’t move though. “You have a problem with what I’m wearing?”, she quipped.

Rhys let out a sigh. “If you care to be freezing…”

Aelin smirked. “You see this?”, pointing at the flames still encircling her, “I don’t think I’ll be cold.”

Cassian actually looked amused at that.

“So, now that we are all decent”, a pointed look at Aelin, “how about we go into the meeting room and discuss matters there?”, Rhys suggested. “And Cassian”, he turned to his friend, “get the others. We will have a Court Meeting.”

Court? Was this person in front of her someone important?

“They won’t be happy to be awoken in the middle of the night.”, Cassian grumbled, “Especially Amren. And I’m gonna be the one who gets all the shit from her again.” With that he left.

Aelin was alone with Rhys. He looked her over once more, but didn’t say anything.

Then he looked to the now-gone bed and the curtains that were also gone by now. A sigh.

“Come on.”

He motioned for her to follow him, as he left the room a few moments later. He lead her down two flights of stairs and into a big room with a long dining table in the middle. At the table there were two people already waiting.

Another winged male, and a beautiful, goldenhaired woman.

“What is this about, Rhys?”, the woman yawned. Only then did she spot Aelin. “Oh- who’s that?”

“That’s what this meeting will be about.”, Rhys answered tightly.

“And where’s Feyre?”

Aelin saw the slight flinch at his mate’s name. “That’s the other thing this meeting will be about.”

Aelin noticed how he wouldn’t meet the eyes of either of his friends.

“But-”, the woman tried to inquire further, but a look from Rhys made her shut up. “When the others are here, we will dicuss this.”

“Well you don’t need _the others_ to be here, to tell me who in Wyrd’s name you are and where the rutting hell I am”, Aelin pointed out. She was tired of this male telling her what to do. She hated being told what to do, especially by males, and especially by males she did not know.

The two people at the table stared at her. Somehow people here seemed into that. But she supposed she _was_ quite a sight, clad in her black night gown and golden flame. She wasn't going to let the wall of fire fall anytime soon. Not before she'd gotten some answers. Not before she'd made sure that Rhys wouldn't attack her again.

Rhys looked at her with a cold expression on this face. “Sit”, he ordered.

_Hell no._

“Sit”, he repeated with a warning growl.

She returned the growl and stayed where she was. Behind him the two people at the table exchanged half amused, half horrified glances.

“Tell me who you are and I might.”, she smirked. This time the exchanged glance was definetely horrified.

Rhys’s expression was murderous. But after a second he seemed to catch himself.

“I’m Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court.”

So he was someone important then. She wouldn't let any feelings show right now, though.

So Aelin just quirked an eyebrow. “Never heard of you or the Night Court”, she simply said, “Where exactly is this Night Court supposed to be?”

“In Prythian.”

“Never heard of that, either.”

With that she strolled over to the table and sat down across from the golden-haired woman, who gave her a tentative smile. “I’m Mor”, she introduced herself.

Right at that moment three other people came in. Two females - one short with straight black hair and one about as tall as Aelin with gold-brown hair - and Cassian.

They walked around the table and took their seats next to the two who were already here.

Rhysand was still standing. “Before you ask”, he snarled, “this is Cassian, Nesta”, he pointed at the taller woman, “Amren”, the blackhaired one, “Azriel”, the second winged male, “and Mor.”

He turned to her. “Now, _who are you? How did you get here? Where did you come from? And where. Is. My. Mate?”_

Aelin raised her chin and looked at him. He might be someone important, but so was she. He would not intimidate her. She knew the gold in her Ashryver eyes was a living flame.

“I’m Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen, Heir of Brannon of the Wildfire and Mala Firebringer. And - before you ask again - I have no idea how I got here or where your mate is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the actual first chapter of this fanfic. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing this. It was really alot of fun.   
> I'll try to update this fanfic once every week.  
> And please leave comments on how you liked this chapter :)  
> I hope you have a great weekend!


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you lovelies!  
> I hope you all had a great week!   
> As it's now semester break I started an internship this week, which is pretty exhausting, but at least when I come home at night I can sit down at my desk to write and not to study more..  
> So I did manage to write a second chapter!  
> I hope you will enjoy!

Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius was on his way back to the palace. He’d had a nightmare and hadn’t been able to go back to sleep, so he’d decided to go for a flight. Flying always calmed him – plus he hadn’t wanted to wake Aelin.

Both of them still woke from nightmares from time to time – Aelin more often than he. But when he did have a nightmare it was about her being taken by Maeve. Him having to watch while she was being tortured and beaten and whipped - and he could do nothing but stand there and watch.

In the year since the war against Erawan had been won, the nightmares had stopped haunting him as often, so that he was able to sleep through the night most of the time, but tonight had been especially bad.

Aelin still woke more than once a week - sweating, panting and more often than not encased in her fire. By now Rowan was used to having a tight cocoon of hard air around her - after she had almost burned the whole room down more than once when she awoke from her nightmares. It killed him to see her, she who was usually so strong, like that - sobbing and screaming. During the daytime she would never give those thoughts and fears any room, but they always came to chase her in her dreams.

He couldn't help but think that it was all his fault.

By now he had calmed down and just hoped Aelin hadn’t woken up to find him missing. She would worry about him again… or panic. He hated for her to worry about him. She had enough horrors to face herself, had enough to worry about without his nightmares and fears. Or she might have a nightmare herself and he wouldn’t be there to comfort her…. at that thought he picked up his pace and let his wind carry him faster towards the palace.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later Rowan landed on the window sill of his and Aelin's room. She was still sleeping soundly and he was content to just watch her for a while – to make sure she was alright, that she was safe.

Suddenly a sliver of moonlight shone onto her face. Rowan started. The woman in the bed was not Aelin. And what was even more strange... she was Fae.

He felt panic rise in his chest. Where was Aelin? He tried to keep the panic at bay and searched for the bond that connected him with his Fireheart. He felt nothing.... emptiness. The panic rose higher and threatened to take hime under, but then…

He did feel _something_. But it felt far, far away. 

His hawk let out a screech as he soared back into the sky.

His first instinct was to fly to Aedion's room – where he tapped the window with his beak.

Even though he knew that Aedion and Lysandra had gotten together only a few weeks ago and that they probably were sleeping together in a bed. That Aedion, as a Demi-Fae male, would be very territorial right now and not the least bit happy to see him. But at moment he was too far gone to care.

Rowan heard Aedion's grumble inside telling him to go away, but he ignored it. With a curse Aedion got out of bed, when the tapping on the window didn't stop and came to open it.

He wasn't wearing anything, but he knew Rowan wouldn't care. They'd seen each other without clothing often enough. After battles, when they both went to wash the blood off of themselves, and sometimes in the healer's tent, when they both had wounds to be treated...

As soon as the window was open far enough, Rowan slipped through the crack and shifted.

He smelled the reek of desire and sex in the air, but in his frenzy he also didn't care about that. Lysandra – wisely – had shifted into her ghost leopard-form upon the bed and was snarling softly at him.

Aedion was glaring. "What do you want?"

"Aelin-", was all he managed to get out. Aedion's expression immediately changed from annoyance to alarm.

"What is with her?" He demanded.

"Gone", Rowan croaked out, "Someone else in the bed..."

Aedion swore violently and almost ran to his closet. There he pulled on a loose pair of pants and grabbed two daggers from a shelf of which he handed one to Rowan.

"Who?" He inquired, while he was getting ready.

"Don't know, didn't check. Came here as soon as I noticed..." Rowan's voice trailed off.

Aedion stopped for a second to look at his brother in arms. "It'll be fine, Rowan. We'll find her. There'll be an easy enough explanation for all of it."

_Or not_ , Rowan thought.

He somehow had the feeling that there would _not_ be an easy explanation, or an easy solution. But he didn't voice those thoughts.

Words seemed to have abandoned him. All he could think about was Aelin not being here, her being missing.

_Not again._

He could not go through that again. Not when it, again, was because he hadn't been there. Not been there to protect her.

Not when it was his fault. Again.

Aedion, who had seemed to sense his despair, motioned for him to follow. To do something. To keep the hollow emptiness at bay that threatened to swallow him.

"Come on. Let's go see who that person in Aelin's bed is. They will regret ever having set foot in Terrasen, if they hurt her in any way."

At that a wicked grin spread across Aedion's face, the Wolf of the North incarnate. He would hurt anyone who hurt his queen, and take a long damn time doing so.

So Rowan followed the general, as they hurried through the night-dark palace to the suite Rowan and Aelin shared. A ghost leopard followed them silently.

Doing something did indeed help. Rowan didn't feel as if he was going to go mad at any moment anymore, but with every step he took to their room the same word pounded through his head.

_Gone._

_Gone._

_Gone._

And it was his fault. Again.

Because he had let his fears overtake him and left her. And because of that she was gone. Again.

He didn't even notice that they had arrived until Aedion quietly eased open the door.

The woman – Fae-female – upon the bed was beautiful. Her hair was gold-brown, accented with silver from the moonlight and her pale skin seemed to glow, as if there was an inner light shining within her.

And her scent... It was like nothing Rowan had ever smelled before. Her scent was of power and light and darkness, of spring and summer and autumn and winter. Like all of that together and none of it.

All of that went through his head within a few seconds. Only then did he notice that he had frozen at the threshold to the bedroom.

In the meantime Aedion had stalked across the room and was now crouching next to the bed - a dagger at the female's throat. Lysandra had jumped onto it and had her fangs bared - a snarl, vicious and full of rage, rumbled in her chest.

The female's eyes flew open. She almost sat up startled, but then she seemed to notice Aedion's dagger at her throat. It bobbed as she swallowed and a tiny trickle of blood ran down her neck. Her wide eyes darted through the room, assessing.

Rowan stepped further into the room. Aedion had been right. Doing something – anything – helped. And if this woman knew anything – had anything to do with it… Well she would regret it. As Aedion had said.

Her attention snapped to Aedion as he hissed, "Who are you? What are you doing here? And where is the queen?"

If possible her eyes grew even wider. They were of a strange blue-grey color, like the sky right before a storm.

"Queen?" She choked out. "One of the six mortal Queens?"

What was she talking about?

Again her gaze traveled through the room. "Where am I?"

Rowan heard the panic creep into her voice and smelled the tang of her fear.

He knew Aedion noticed it too, yet the general didn't lower his knife. "Answer the questions," he snarled. " _Who are you?_ "

"Feyre," came the breathless answer, "My name is Feyre Archeron."

" _What are you doing here?_ "

"Where am I?"

The panic in her voice slowly turned into something else – rage.

" _Where am I?_ " She repeated.

Rowan answered her. "In my bedroom - in my bed," he snarled.

Her eyes shot to him. "And who are you, if I might ask?" She spat.

That girl was a fighter, the general-part of Rowan's mind observed.

"The King"

That took the female somewhat aback. Her brows furrowed as she looked at him more closely. "But you – you are High Fae."

She sounded so surprised, that Rowan couldn't help but think that this female had never heard of him – or Aelin – before. And why _High_ Fae?

Aedion seemed to have the same thought.

"What do you mean – _High_ Fae?" He growled, the dagger pressed against her throat a little harder – more blood welled.

Feyre's eyes shot back to Aedion. "What do _you_ mean?" She snapped back.

Lysandra snarled again at the tone she used. Feyre flinched.

"What I mean," Aedion growled, "is that there is no _High_ Fae. There's Fae - and humans. And anything inbetween."

The girl stared at him.

"What?" She asked disbelievingly. And then again, "Where am I? In which kingdom am I?"

"You're in Terrasen."

"I – I’ve never heard of it. Was it established after Hybern was defeated?"

What in Wyrd's name was she talking about?! None of this was making any sense. The girl obviously had no idea where she was or who they were. But he would figure out what was going on here.

Rowan signaled Aedion to step back. A second later a gust of wind had thrown the female against the wall. For a second he had her pinned there – then she was free. His wind – it hit a hard wall of air. Air that he was not controlling – that he _could not_ contol.

"Do that again," Feyre snarled, "and you will regret it. I am the High Lady of the Night Court, and no one – _no one_ – attacks me."

_High Lady? Night Court?_

What was she talking about? _What was going on here?_

Aedion just growled at the threat. "Where is our queen?" he asked snarling.

"How am I supposed to know that? I have never heard of this kingdom before, much less of any queen who might reign it. And who is this queen you're talking about, anyway?" she snapped.

Aedion snarled at the insolence. "Our queen is Aelin Ashryver Galathynius. And you will be more respectful when you speak of her. Or you will regret it."

That again seemed to surprise the female. "I – I've never heard of her," she confessed, but Rowan could sense that that wasn't the reason for the surprised tone in her voice. He couldn't read her, which bothered him – alot. He was able to read almost anyone – that's what had made him a good soldier, a good general and, in the last year, also a good King.

But he could sense that she spoke the truth. She had never heard of Terrasen or Aelin before. 

This female was not responsible for Aelin's disappearance.

So he called Aedion and Lysandra off. Threats would do them no more good.

But if her disappearance wasn't Feyre's doing... Then where was Aelin? Where was his Fireheart? Despair clamped down on his heart again – even worse than before. Again he felt that emptiness threaten to swallow him. Not again.

Not again.

_Not again._

Not his Fireheart.

Rowan sank to his knees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So did you guys enjoy this?   
> It wasn't as easy to write as the first one, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out in the end.   
> I hope I did Rowan's POV justice.  
> Again, please leave comments of how you liked this and what was good and what was not so good/could be improved!
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey lovelies!   
> I hope you all had a great week!  
> I'm sorry I didn't do an early update, but I had a very stressful week myself and this is the first time I turned on my laptop since last weekend.   
> But anyway, I hope you will enjoy the next chapter!

_Aelin raised her chin and looked at him. He might be someone important, but so was she. He would not intimidate her. She knew the gold in her Ashryver eyes was a living flame._

_“I’m Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen, Heir of Brannon of the Wildfire and Mala Firebringer. And - before you ask again - I have no idea how I got here or where your mate is.”_

* * *

We were all staring at her with our mouths agape. Even Mor seemed speechless for once.

She was _who_? A queen? Of Terrasen?

Where in cauldron’s sake was that? I had never heard of it. And that bothered me more than I was willing to admit. I hated not knowing things.

And I _especially_ hated not knowing where Feyre was. And I couldn’t shake the feeling that this girl’s – queen’s – appearance here had something to do with it.

The worst thing was, that I couldn’t even feel Feyre. I mean the bond was there, alright, and I could sense that she was alive, but other than that there was nothing. Absolute silence.

It was as if the bridge that connected our minds was… shut down. Not broken down, but it felt as if there was a gate in the middle. And no matter how much I banged on that gate, no matter how hard I tried to get it to open up – there was no getting through. And that scared me to death.

I would never admit this to anyone, but whenever I had realized that Aelin’s appearance in my bed wasn’t a prank one of those idiots in front of me had tried to pull on me and that Feyre was gone… I had never been that scared in all my five and a half centuries of existence.

Until Cassian had come knocking at our bedroom door and told us to be more quiet, I had thought she would be somewhere in the House of Winds. Of course the whole situation had felt completely strange anyway and I did wonder what that woman was doing in my bed and how she had gotten there, but until then I hadn’t realized that Feyre was gone. And that I had no idea where she was, if she was well, how I could get in contact with her and how I could get her back.

This was a hundred times worse than her being at the Spring Court, spying for us. Then at least I had known where she was, I had been able to communicate with her – no matter that our bond had been damaged and weakened by the King of Hybern – him breaking the bargain between us – and I had always known that in case anything ever happened, I could always get her out if necessary. I didn’t have any of these securities right now. And I hated it.

I also hated this queen in front of us. Swaggering around as if this was all a game to her, as if this didn’t affect her at all. There had only been two times where she’d shown any feeling at all. Once when she had woken up next to me, then she had seemed genuinely surprised – maybe even horrified. And then whenever Cassian had mentioned my mate being missing. I thought I had detected something like sympathy in her voice and glance then. As if this mortal knew what it meant to have a mate, how important a mate was to one of our kind.

But how would that even be possible? Even though… she did have magic. Magic that was strong enough to hold out against my own. And I had no idea how that was possible, either. Did humans have magic in other territories? I had never heard of Terrasen, so maybe it was on a faraway continent, where there had not been a wall separating our two kinds for the last five centuries. Where magic had been able to roam freely as it willed.

Was that possible? I didn’t know if humans had had magic before the war and the building of the wall after its end. But even if that had been the case – how could this mortal have that strong a magic? I mean I was the most powerful High Lord in Prythian’s history for a reason. And yet she had been able to stand against me – and even throw me on my ass. Not even Feyre had managed to do that yet…

And still, none of that answered the question how she’d gotten here. She had said that she didn’t know and I somehow didn’t get the feeling that she was lying. But… there was a way for me to find out.

In that moment I really wanted to kick myself. I was a deamati, for cauldron’s sake. How had I forgotten that other arsenal at my disposal?! How could I have neglected that power until now?

So I sent my power towards her to dive into her mind. I could feel her very essence - crackling embers and a cunning wickedness. And there was something else… but before I could enter her mind and find out more about it, her head snapped towards me and a wall of white-hot blue-golden flames suddenly encircled her mind. I recoiled at the last second.

How was _that_ possible? No human I had ever encountered, or heard of, was able to sense an attack to their mind – let alone shield against it. Not to mention shield against _me_. This was just straight up frustrating by now.

But before my thoughts could wander any further, she spoke. “Do that again,” she hissed, “and this place and all of you will be ashes.”

Her words sent a shiver down my back. I had seen her in action and she sounded like she meant it.

The other people in the room were staring – for them only a second had passed since her declaration – and gripping their weapons at the threat. So they also took her threat seriously. Only Cassian was still relaxed. “This place is on top of a mountain, carved into the stone. I wanna see you burn it to ash”, he smirked. He even had the audacity to wink at her. I had to admit, I half admired him for the courage – that girl was dangerous. And he had seen the room she’d wrecked.

Aelin answered him with a glare, in which I couldn't detect a scrap of feeling, nothing remotely human. "Try me."

It was Mor, who broke the tense silence after that. “So can someone please fill me in on what’s going on here? I’m not following anymore.”

Neither was I to be honest, but I wasn’t about to say that.

It was Aelin who answered. “Well I can tell you what’s going on. I woke up next to your High Lord here-” she sneered and pointed in my direction. “Who was stark naked.” Mor spewed out the wine, she’d just been sipping. It would have hit the queen, had it not been for the golden flames still encircling her, which immediately turned it to steam.

Aelin just continued as if nothing had happened. “He then attacked me with that dark magic of his-” I saw her eyes turn dark at that. They almost had a haunted look to them.

“Hey, you attacked me first!” I argued. She glared at me then, the haunted look gone. But it was true. Her hands had suddenly been on fire – was I supposed to just ignore that?

“How about you don’t interrupt me?” She turned back towards the others at the table.

“Anyway, he attacked me and I defended myself and then that one-” she pointed to Cassian. “came knocking and told us that we were being too loud. After that the High Lord dragged me here to have this meeting. That’s all I know.” A pointed look directed at me, daring me to try to invade her mind again to prove her wrong.

“And how did you get here?” Mor asked.

“That’s something we’d all like to know, it would seem.”

“Where is Terrasen?” Azriel cut in calmly. My quiet Spymaster slid into the role he was best at. Interrogator.

“In Erilea. Let me guess – you’ve never heard of that, either.” A sigh.

Frankly, she was right. I had never heard that name. And I hated it. Today, it seemed, was really not my day – or night rather.

Before Azriel or I could say anything, Amren spoke up. “I have.”

Every head at the table whipped towards her. She was pale and looking as if she was about to be sick.

“How? Where is it? Tell us what you know!” I demanded. Right now I didn’t care about her pride and what she’d do to me for the rudeness. Not when Feyre was concerned. And not only her. A stranger from somewhere I’d never heard of had just appeared in Velaris. I still needed to keep it safe.

And this stranger was also a strong magic wielder, who might pose a threat to this City of Starlight and Beauty. I couldn’t allow this to go unchecked. If I thought about it that way it was almost lucky, she’d appeared in my bed – I had immediately known of the threat and she hadn’t been able to roam the city and possibly destroy it.

Even if that experience had shaken me more than I wanted to admit to myself. There were still scars from Under the Mountain – scars that might never truly fade. Feyre was the only person I could sleep next to without a momentary panic when waking up. And only when sleeping next to her I was spared from my nightmares.

“I heard of Erilea a very long time ago,” Amren began. When _she_ said a very long time ago, then it would have to have been millennia. “And it’s not in this world.”

We all just stared. How was that even possible?!

It was Mor who voiced that thought. "What?!” she demanded. "That's not even possible! A different world - nonsense!" She snorted. Cassian nodded his agreement, while Azriel just observed everything silently.

"Considering that I came from a different world myself, I think I'll be the judge of that," Amren answered in a cold voice. "It is possible. There are different worlds and one can travel from one world to another through portals. It appears to me that that's what happened."

"But how?!" Mor asked. "You've been trying to find a way to open such a portal to go home for over a year and still found nothing! And this human -" She flung an arm towards Aelin. "just happened to have come here through one of those portals? How would a mortal know anything about them anyway, let alone be able to open one if even you can't?!"

I could have sworn that color stained Amren's cheeks at that. I wondered what that was about.

“One,” Aelin interrupted, before I could pursue those thoughts any further. “I’m right here. I’d appreciate you not talking about me as if I’m not here. Two, I actually happen to know about portals.” We were all gaping at her again. “And three, I did not open one to come here! I never wanted to leave my court. Why would I want to go to a different world I know nothing about?”

I could have sworn that there were tears shining in her eyes. She wasn’t lying, I could sense that.

It was Cassian who found his voice first. “You- you actually believe Amren?” He asked hoarsely. It earned him a snarl from the ancient one, but he ignored it. “I didn’t know that mortals believe in that kind of stuff. Or know about it.”

“Well, where I come from it’s actually quite common knowledge that portals exist and one can travel in between worlds through them,” she drawled. She could give Cassian a run for his money with that nonchalance of hers. How was she this calm if she was indeed in a different world?

“That’s all nice and everything,” Nesta snapped, interrupting my thoughts again. To be honest it very much surprised me that she’d kept her mouth shut for so long at all. “But why is it that you just happen to appear here and my sister goes missing at the same time? And how do you have magic if you’re a human? Humans don’t have magic!” She seemed to dislike Aelin as much as I did at the moment. Even though to be fair – my dislike for her wasn’t really because of her, but for the fact that Feyre was missing. And even if she didn’t do anything to her, that far I believed her, she still had something to do with her disappearance.

Aelin wasn’t the slightest bit intimidated by Nesta – I was secretly impressed. I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes at the moment. Sometimes when she was particularly nasty and mean even I was scared of her. Especially since she had been made High Fae. Not that I’d ever admit that much to anyone.

“How am I supposed to know why I got here?” She snapped right back. “I’ve never even heard of this place before and I don’t know your sister. I don’t know where she is, gods I don’t even know _who_ she is! So you don’t get to blame me. And about my magic – where I come from humans have magic.”

The two women were staring at each other. I could see Cassian swallow and put his hand on Nesta’s leg. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t ready to see this mountain turned to rubble in the wake of these two. They were both forces of nature and neither of them seemed willing to back down.

Nesta was just about to retort something, which might actually have resulted in this place being turned to ashes, but luckily Amren stepped in before something could actually happen.

“Are you done with your idle threats and childish behavior? I thought you wanted me to tell you what I know." She gave both females a cold stare. Slowly - neither one wanting to break their staring match first – they turned towards the ancient being.

“You said you were Mala’s heir,” Amren began. “I knew her. A very long time ago.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did you guys like this?   
> I have to say it was hard getting a feeling for Rhys at first, but I think this turned out well enough. I would say Aelin's POV is my favorite one to write - all her sass is just so much fun to write.   
> I also hope that I did all the characters and how you would imagine their reactions justice - I really tried my best. 
> 
> Anyway, as always please leave comments on how you liked this and what was good and not so good!   
> I hope you all have a lovely next week and that I'll have time to continue this.
> 
> What would you like more for the next chapter? Aelin and Rhys from Aelin's POV or Feyre and Rowan from Feyre's POV?

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic I actually post, so I hope you guys enjoyed this!  
> I would appreciate any comments on how you guys like it, or if there's anything that could be improved.


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